Weinstein e.mails ask L’Oreal for $6-8 million to sponsor Runway, say Tresemme is out

A Village Voice reporter found documents from Harvey Weinstein in a recycling bin on the street, and among those documents are e.mail messages about sponsorships for Project Runway 6–including a sponsored challenge. They suggest that L’Oreal was offered full sponsorship of hair and makeup because Tresemme is out for that season, the first that will air on Lifetime.

One e.mail message “was sent May 26 to several people at by Lori Sale, a former Weinstein Company employee now at the Paradigm agency,” the Village Voice reports. The message mentions “tresemme’s feeling that they are being iced out of season 6,” and essentially asks L’Oreal to make a decision to sponsor both hair and makeup, or be replaced.

Another message, from Sale to Harvey Weinestein, lays down L’Oreal’s options–and the asking prices:

“They have two choices: 1) Take both hair and make up for [$2 million] plus [$1 million] to twc (no split) for season 6 and [$2 million] for hair and makeup for season 7 plus [$1 million] to twc for a total of [$6 million]. 2) Commit to season 6 only for [$2 million] hair/make up plus [$1 million] to twc] and then by 3rd episode must pick up both season 7 + 8 for a total of [$8 million] (but must take additional [$1 million] to twc regardless)”

The bottom line, as the paper summarizes it: L’Oreal “need[s] to cough up $6-8 mil if they want to tease models’ hair on camera for a few seasons.” Perhaps more significantly, other e.mail messages suggest that “Runway on Lifetime is going to get sillier and even more blatantly placed with products,” according to the paper. That’s revealed in a “phone message from underling Barbara Schneewiess on the boss’s call list: ‘Just wanted to confirm that you’re okay with the creative for the Igor challenge on Project Runway.'”

As the Village Voice explains, “This appears to be a reference to the animated kids’ film Igor that Weinstein’s company is producing, and suggests that contestants on the new Lifetime version of Runway will be making outfits for the movie premiere or something. The tie-in possibilities are endless!”

about Andy Dehnart

Andy Dehnart is a journalist who has covered reality television for more than 15 years and created reality blurred in 2000. A member of the Television Critics Association, his writing and criticism about television, culture, and media has appeared on NPR and in Playboy, Buzzfeed, and many other publications. Andy, 37, also directs the journalism program at Stetson University in Florida, where he teaches creative nonfiction and journalism. He has an M.F.A. in nonfiction writing and literature from Bennington College. More about reality blurred and Andy.

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